The provincial government has since requested all those involved to leave the site to allow authorities to conduct a proper inspection, amid fears the people digging at the site could potentially be spreading the coronavirus. A man shows an unidentified stone as fortune seekers flock to the village after pictures and videos were shared on social media showing people celebrating after finding what they believe to be. Some people have started selling the stones, with the starting price ranging from 100 rand ($7.29) to 300 rand. The diamond which is the third-largest in the world after the first and second that was discovered in South Africa and Lucara Botswana respectively was discovered on June 1st from Jwaneng mine's South Kimberlite pipe, the government of Botswana announced on Twitter, Wednesday. The coronavirus pandemic has made it worse. More than 130 years after South Africa's first diamond rush, hundreds of prospectors are hoping to strike it rich on the booming. South Africa’s economy has long suffered from extremely high levels of unemployment, trapping millions in poverty and contributing to stark inequalities that persist nearly three decades after the end of apartheid in 1994. It is on display at the Kimberley Mine Museum. Found by 15-year-old Erasmus Jacobs, the 21.25 ct Eureka diamond was the first significant diamond discovered in South Africa. The lack of an analysis of the stones has not deterred the fortune seekers as long lines of parked cars on both sides of the gravel road could be seen just a few meters from the open field, where the young, old, female, and male dug through the soil with picks, shovels, and forks to find riches. This enormous South African diamond was named Eureka, meaning I have found it. The mines department said on Monday it was sending a team comprising of geological and mining experts to the site to collect samples and conduct an analysis.Ī formal technical report will be issued in due course, the department said. Unemployed Skhumbuzo Mbhele concurred, adding: “I hadn’t seen or touched a diamond in my life. Cecil Rhodes, the founder of the British South Africa Company, got his start by renting water pumps to miners during the diamond rush that started in 1869. When I returned home with them, (the family was) really overjoyed,” said the 27-year old father of two. But in South Africa in 1870 diamond was found in the earth far from. “This means our lives will change because no one had a proper job, I do odd jobs. Throughout much of history, diamonds were mined from the sand and gravel surrounding rivers. The discovery was a life changer, said one digger Mendo Sabelo as he held a handful of tiny stones. The people traveled from across South Africa to join villagers who have been digging since Saturday, after a herd man who dug up the first stone on an open field, which some believe to be quartz crystals, put out the word. The sun-bleached ghost town is now a tourist destination and draw for photographers – the striking images a reminder of how changing industries and economies leave their mark on the landscape.More than 1,000 fortune seekers on Monday flocked to the village of KwaHlathi in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province in search of what they believed to be diamonds after the discovery of unidentified stones in the area. But with the right permit, people are welcome to visit. Today Kolmanskop sits in a restricted zone controlled by the Namdeb Diamond Corporation, a joint venture owned by De Beers and the Namibian government. Workers armed with jam jars would crawl on hands and knees, filling them with diamonds.īut as resources are used up, people move on. European investment flowed in by the end of the nineteenth century, it was equivalent to all European investment in the rest of Africa. In the town’s heyday, the precious stones were so easy to find that they could be picked out of the sand. The discovery of diamonds in 1869 and of gold in 1886 changed the South African economy significantly. But 100 years ago it was home to a busy diamond mine. Situated on the southern flank of West Africa’s sprawling Namib Desert, the small town of Kolmanskop has been reclaimed by the sand. Looking at it now, it is hard to believe this ramshackle collection of derelict buildings was once one of the wealthiest communities in the world.
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